THE BORDER IS A KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUE. HERE’S WHAT IT’S REALLY LIKE TO TRY TO MIGRATE TO THE U.S.
Immigration enforcement starts thousands of miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Deportation flights funded by the U.S. government have started from Panama. Since January, Mexico has increased arrests of migrants traveling on buses and trains.
Even for migrants like Antonio who manage the dangerous mount onto a train, organized crime awaits on board to extort and beat them, said Isacson.
“The train remains the route for the poorest of the poor – the people who can’t scrape together a few thousands dollars to pay a smuggler to get them across Mexico in vehicles,” Isacson said.
Because of these dangers, many migrants wait in Mexico for a CBP One appointment. Since May 2023, migrants requesting an asylum screening at the U.S. border must use the app, with few exceptions. Once approved, they are eligible for a work permit within weeks of arrival in the U.S.
Human rights organizations say the app violates the right to asylum because of long wait times and technical glitches. It also makes migrants into “sitting ducks” for cartels, according to Krystle Cartagena, managing attorney for RAICES Texas, a migrant rights nonprofit. Most of her clients are kidnapped, extorted or abused in Mexico while waiting.
“The CBP One solution is no solution at all,” said Cartagena.
Antonio was skeptical of the CBP One app. He heard that Central Americans rarely scored an appointment.
“It’s God’s decision or luck,” he said.
